


Ruination

by neuronary



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Child Abuse, Gaslighting, Gen, as a tre- oh fuck that was the whole box, everyone gets a little childhood trauma, it's ozai what were u expecting, so zuko's dead, zuko azula roleswap au but not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:21:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22819189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neuronary/pseuds/neuronary
Summary: It's an unassuming night that the entire Fire Nation is flipped on its head. As the dust settles, Azula, the new crown princess at the age of nine (and a half, thank you very much), is left alone in the royal palace, with only her father and servants that melt into the walls like whispers.When the Avatar reappears five years later, Azula seizes her opportunity for freedom and vengeance.
Relationships: Aang & Azula (Avatar), Azula & Katara (Avatar), Azula & Sokka (Avatar), Azula & The Gaang (Avatar)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 509





	1. No Fanfare

**Author's Note:**

> quick trigger warning aaaa!! so uh. if gore is an issue for you maybe skip the final two scenes. "Azula slipped through the window silently." is your cue to click away. also with the gaslighting, probably skip this chapter. this whole thing is just breakdown central (azula's not having a great week).
> 
> anyways i hope u enjoy this attempt.

Azula wakes up in midsummer with a feeling like her inner flame is being chilled.

It will be a long day, and she is certain she will be struggling not to yawn by the end of it. Firebending is a gift from Agni and she has so clearly been blessed by Him but it can, when she is forgetting to count her blessings like Mother always says she should (as if she doesn't  _ know _ that she is spirit-blessed), be a tiny bit tiring.

She is halfway down the hall to Zuko's door before she remembers.

_ "Dad's going to kill you." _

She had tried to warn him.

She's still in silk sleeping robes when she cracks the door to Zuko's rooms. They're as large as hers, but less empty. Zuko has what Mother calls 'sentimentals', trinkets and keepsakes from various places they've visited. Azula never saw the point, and adopted Father's scorn while cultivating her own spartan rooms. There is no lump in the bed, perfectly made with smoothed out sheets. Azula practices her breathing exercises until the squeezing in her chest relents. It takes two degrees of the sun. Once her lungs have returned to the way they should be, she crosses silently to the bed and crouches, reaching underneath to the loose corner of tatami underneath. One more careful breath steels her and she lifts it up.

Zuko's dual dao glint up at her.

Azula's stomach twists.

\---

She took the outcry of her grandfather's death as an opportunity to slip away unnoticed from the places she shouldn't be. It didn't take her long to return to her own rooms and change into simple training robes. A servant was sent to collect her. The rabbit-mouse made its voice up in sympathy and announced Azulon's death. Azula shaped her face into a false smile with too many teeth and smiled for real when the rabbit-mouse flinched.

"The court has requested your presence, Princess Azula."

Azula nodded, as if she had expected this, and stood.

"Send someone in with appropriate clothing." There was a pause, where the rabbit-mouse neither moved nor spoke and, most importantly, did not follow her order. "Is there anything else?"

Something like disapproval - or maybe pity? - flashed across the servant's face. "It is an emergency meeting, Princess Azula. Your presence is requested immediately."

Azula let her smile drop and raised an eyebrow. "Very well." This should mean that everybody would be in similar states of disarray, at least. She could stomach the imperfection for now.

'Similar states of disarray' was not quite accurate. While Azula took her place at Father's side, she took stock of the rest of the council. Father was fully dressed in formal robes (he'd known this was coming) (Grandfather was the picture of health yesterday, Azula had  _ seen _ him), not a hair out of place, with the  _ prince's crown _ in his hair. Azula could at least, while the smoke cleared and she began to understand what had happened, appreciate the boldness of Father's most recent move. The rest of the court looked mildly unsettled and were mostly in their sleeping robes, hair still loose, some of the non-benders stifling yawns as they shuffled through papers and forgot names. Azula's training robes and neat topknot looked like high fashion in comparison.

Azula watched in complete silence, fixing her grin in place, with no particular recipient in mind. The meeting was called to attention. She kept an eye on the head speaker, but mostly watched as Father performed.

(It was not a convincing performance, but the cards had fallen such that it didn't have to be.)

Father smiled a smile of teeth and lies.

(The cards may, upon further reflection, have been very carefully placed.)

Ozai played his games. Azula pondered.

The narrative was inconsistent. Father had wanted the throne, and to please Grandfather, who had ordered him to kill Zuko, so Father had killed Zuko (which was fine, and his own stupid fault because she had  _ warned him well in advance _ ) and then Mother must have gotten involved somehow because she cared about Zuko too much, so now she was dead too, but how and why had father killed Azulon? Or, if he had killed Azulon, why had he bothered with Zuko and Mother? Clearly, they were dead, unless they weren't, except they had to be because if they weren't dead then  _ where were they _ .

It was not a long council meeting. Azula had never been to one before, but she could tell.

\---

Fire Lord Azulon's funeral was as long as it was gaudy.

Azula sat silently in the front row and contemplated.

There was no fanfare for Zuko.

\---

"Father," Azula began at Dinner, after waiting carefully for all of the servants to be dismissed, "will Zuko be joining us?" Ozai's chewing stopped for a moment as he turned to his daughter.

"Who is Zuko, my dear?"

A feeling like dry fabric on teeth rushed along her spine. Father had never called her that before. It took her a moment to catch up to what he'd actually said.

"My brother, Prince Zuko." Azula examined her father's face, watching for a crack in the mask.

None came.

"Princess Azula, you don't have a brother." Ozai was not a good liar, not to her. So why did it look so much like he was telling the truth? Honeyed concern dripped off his words. "Are you feeling ill? I know that your grandfather's passing must have been a shock to you." Azula twisted her lips into the most unsettling smile she could muster.

"I don't care what happened to him, I'm only curious." The perfect balance of venom and boredom made for a flawless lie. (Could she still tell the truth? She wondered too much, sometimes.)

Ozai reached out to her, cupping her cheek in his hand. Azula was careful not to flinch as she felt the unnatural warmth spread across her flesh.

Gold eyes met gold. The heat began to sting. She did not look away.

After a few moments Ozai spoke, loudly enough to be heard in the corridor outside.

"Guards." The doors opened quickly. Ozai dropped his hand. "The crown princess is feeling unwell. Please escort her to her chambers."

The guards stared for a little too long at her face, as if she couldn't feel the pinkish handprint he had left there. It would fade by the morning. For now, she bared her teeth in a blank smile. One of them actually shuddered.

(Azula ignored Mother, wondering about what was wrong with her. She knew what she was doing. Probably.)

\---

The streets of the Caldera were warm, even at night. One of the younger sages had once told Zuzu it was because Agni had blessed the city when the first dynasty had settled there. Zuzu had believed him because he was a dumb-dumb who didn't pay attention to their history lessons. He'd just stared out of the windows and tapped on the tatami while Azula took notes and memorized everything she was told to cover for him later. Not that he was ever grateful.

(She didn't need him to be grateful this time, she just needed him to  _ listen _ .)

Azula clutched the dao closer to her chest and took a shortcut through an alleyway. The swords were heavy and cumbersome because they'd been made for Zuzu, who was taller than her and stronger (though she could still beat him) and who'd left them behind because he was a dumb-dumb and he was always forgetting things. The theater mask was hidden away just fine on her back, underneath the dark cloak that kept her out of sight of the common-folk.

Whenever Azula and Zuko had gotten a chance to sneak away to the festivals in the lower Caldera, Zuko had made her agree to one thing. They would meet by the fire-flake cart if they got separated, and immediately return home. Often, Azula had thought it pointless and dull, but she was finally finding a use for it.

("If you get lost, come to the fire flakes stall, and wait for me to come find you, okay Lala?"

"I'm not going to get lost, Dum-Dum.")

(Of course  _ Zuzu _ would get lost.)

Even without the cart there, she knew the corner of the marketplace on sight. Zuko wasn't there.

…He might be hiding. Or late.

Azula laid down Zuko's swords very carefully. Even if they weren't as good as firebending, they were very well crafted and, as all good weapons did, deserved her respect. She lowered herself to the floor with a lot less grace. No one was there to see. Well, except Zuzu probably, but she had about eight years' worth of blackmail on him so he didn't count.

It was warm, but the cloak offered better camouflage, so she kept it drawn close around her, curled up in the corner (because it felt safe) so that no one could sneak up on her.

Azula had been awake and active since dawn.

The sun had set a few hours prior.

\---

Azula woke to Agni's rays on her cheek, a crick in her neck, and a feeling that she had forgotten something. She stretched a hand out and hit a stone wall.

Every curse word she had ever learned came to mind. (It was still quite a short list, so she added a few of Zuko's made-up ones for good measure.)

Azula could be fast, when she wanted to be. The way that the heat of the early morning shimmered and warped the Caldera before her, everything seeming closer than it should have been… well, she wasn't about to complain when she made it to the outer wall of the castle in barely over one degree of the sun. She was more noticeable in the daylight, but if she undid her topknot she could sneak in through the servants entrance and make it back to her rooms through the secret passage she'd found last winter.

Father had often said she was 'born lucky'. It stuck with her, as she noticed little things that went easier than they might have, regardless of her station. She was lucky in the way Agni's Blessing came easier to her than it did to others, in the way that she never spilled or knocked things, and in the way she always managed not to be noticed when it mattered.

She was also lucky, today, in the way that everyone had been looking for her in the Crown Prince's chambers. She still didn't have time to bathe before training, but she was counting her blessings like Zuzu always had.

(He had, hadn't he? She hadn't imagined it.)

(She hadn't imagined him.)

Azula blinked away her thoughts, arranging them carefully into her 'ignore' pile, and tried to concentrate on getting her topknot back into place. She needed her topknot to be  _ perfect _ or someone would notice and she would be caught (and at least then maybe someone else would acknowledge Zuko, or even Mother, but say  _ something _ about  _ any of it _ ) and why weren't her fingers moving the way they were supposed to why couldn't she get that last strand in what was happening to her why was the room getting bigger all of a sudden  _ what was so wrong. _

Azula met the eyes of her mother's reflection in the mirror and screamed.

The glass shattered.

"Princess Azula." The woman in the doorway bowed perfectly and waited for permission to enter. Azula didn't want to give it.

"Come in."

The servant's face softened into an expression that reminded Azula eerily of something she'd seen a long time ago, in an illustrated scroll about a girl who got lost from her mother, and had to journey through the spirit world to return to her. Azula remembered wondering why it was her mother never looked at her that way, and then remembering not to bother with her mother anyway. (She had still felt a little jealous at the end of the play, when the daughter had been swept lovingly into her mother's arms and cherished for the rest of both their lives.) (Azula had decided then and there that she hated happy endings.) She was almost completely distracted by the fact that the servant was holding food and spirit intervention or not she had still run across half the Caldera on nothing but fire flakes and adrenaline.

"I've brought your breakfast, your highness." The servant pretended not to notice the broken mirror. Azula made a mental note to have her promoted.

\---

The mirror was in several large pieces on the floor and Yua had heard the scream, but the rest would remain a mystery. She focused on ignoring it (and the princess' bare feet) for the time being, and set the tray down in the silent way she'd learned from a woman who was visiting sick relatives.

The princess had that awful smile fixed in place, the one that always looked out-of-place but never unusual.

"I was instructed to inform you that your training has been cancelled for the day. You are free to do as you wish while your masters have been called away to emergency meetings." It was a half-truth. The Fire Lord, in all of his infinite wisdom (that had never included child-rearing, for some reason), had ordered that his daughter be kept 'out of the way' for the day while she recovered from a sickness only he could see.

"I wish to go down to the lower town," the Princess announced. There was a shadow of a question in it, as if she expected the Fire Lord to jump out and lock her into her room for even suggesting it.

Maybe she did.

When Yua did not respond, the Princess continued.

"You will accompany me. I won't need guards." She took a step forward and suddenly flinched quite violently. Yua's attention was drawn suddenly back to the forgotten mirror. "Leave me to dress, and return in twelve degrees of the sun."

Yua kept her face carefully blank. "Of course, your highness."

\---

Pulling glass out of her feet was not as difficult as Azula had thought it would be. It hurt a little, but not nearly as much as cauterizing the small cuts they left behind. She handled it. It wasn't exactly the first time she'd been burned. It still hurt to walk, like the ache from an pressing into an old bruise, so she practiced walking around her room until she was certain no one would notice.

The marketplace made it easier. Every stall was filled with distractions from her feet. There were great clusters of intricate jewelry lining every stand, glittering in the sunlight like the sea on Ember Island, bright fabrics woven with strands of sun and shadow, tapestries depicting the more frivolous scenes from Azula's history classes. They were greatly exaggerated. (Azula has seen Uncle Iroh's old sketchbooks.)

"The tapestries are beautiful, aren't they?" Until that moment, Azula and her chaperone had walked in silence. Azula looked up at her.

"They're inaccurate," she told her quietly, to keep her voice from wobbling as much as it wanted to. Yua made a questioning sort of hum, as if to prompt an explanation. "Great-grandfather was much uglier than that." (It's not treason if he's dead, is it?)

Yua snorted and jerked forward, slapping her hands against her mouth. Azula blinked. She had never thought of herself as funny before. It almost brought a smile to her face, entirely unbidden, but she forced it away the moment her lips began to curve. Princesses (crown princesses?) did not betray their emotions when in public. (Azula was better than them; she knew never to do so. Someone was always watching.) Still, Yua's muffled snickers provided food for thought. Azula wondered what the political uses of humour could be, and decided to make a trip to the library after the market. There were still several scrolls on political history that she hadn't read.

\---

The princess' silence worried Yua. She could reason it away as confusion, or grief, but it was still unnerving to watch her stare blankly at the fine silks and jewels around her.

How one little girl could look exactly her age and eons older at the same time was beyond her. It was a conspicuous balance she kept, but royals always were raised for court.

(Her brother had been terrible for it. Yua hadn't even been surprised when she was woken to the news and strict instructions not to mention it.)

(The kitchens had been chaos that morning.)

Following after a seemingly aimless nine-year-old wasn't the most entertaining thing in the world, but it was surprisingly uneventful. The princess found some sense of purpose the moment they crossed into the lower market, marked by the overwhelming increase in noise. She tugged her hair out of its high topknot and marched over to the fireflakes stand.

The effect was shocking and, Yua realized suddenly, facilitated by the dark, unassuming training uniform she wore. She had gone from a princess to a forgettable merchant's daughter in moments. Watching further, the Princess' lie was flawless, supported by a childish grin and warmer voice.

"Could I have a cup of Fire Flakes, please?" The stall-worker smiled back, easily endeared.

"That'll be two bronze pieces." Money changed hands and the act had dropped by the time the Princess turned back, face blank again. She looked less severe with her hair down. Yua smiled lightly and followed her to a bench, watching as the Princess’ eyes flicker over the people around her. Her head drifted from side to side as she watched the market-goers. After a few moments of peaceful people-watching, her gaze lingered. Yua turned, trying to spot what it was she was looking at.

When she looked back to ask, the Princess was gone.

Yua found herself in a situation colloquially known as ‘up shit’s creek’.

\---

He was right there Azula had seen him why was he hiding from her when she was the only reason he was still alive where was he why couldn’t he just do what she wanted for  _ once _ -

Azula rounded a corner into a brick wall and fell flat on her back, breathing shakily.

(She’d seen Mother in the mirror but she couldn’t have really been there.)

(Was she going to start seeing Zuko in shadows?)

Azula didn’t know how she ended up in the teashop with a warm cup between her still-shaking-wouldn’t-stop hands, couldn’t really see or hear much beyond muffled voices above her head.

“... had a bit of a shock… lost, I think… home…”

Azula stifled a yawn and ignored it, reheating her tea to steaming before she took a sip. A vaguely familiar face slid into her line of vision.

“How are you feeling?” It was a good question. Not one Azula knew the answer to, but a good question.

“Warm,” she settled on, because she might as well be a teacup.

Yua smiled in the way that made Azula’s throat go twisty-tight-lumpy and she looked down at her teacup. It had a little lotus pattern around the rim in grey and white. “Would you like to go home when you’re finished with your tea?” Azula laughed at the phrasing, like she had a choice.

“I have to.” The world was coming back into focus now and it made her head hurt. She had no idea why people cried, it was awful.

“Well, then, take your time with the tea. We’ve got plenty of time, Princess.” It wasn’t a particularly good lie but the edges of the world were still fuzzy and Yua could take the fall if she wanted to. Azula drank more of her tea and tried not to fall asleep.

\---

"What's even going on? Where's Gumi?"

"Sick relatives. The Fire Lord didn't like his sushi."

"Who else?"

The kitchens fell into silence as Lady Huian filled in the gaps in their lists. Friends were mourned as quietly as rumours were whispered. Yua would miss Sakura. 

They'd used to do laundry together.

"So what d'you think actually happened? To the prince and his mother?"

"The Fire Lord…" Chen didn't finish, so it wasn't treason. He didn't have to. There were plenty of other half-baked conspiracy theories floating around. Ursa and Zuko had plotted to kill Azulon, and Ozai had had them executed for it. The Lady had fled with her son, but Ozai had kept her from reaching her daughter. Both of them had been sent away due to a threat on their lives, and would be back soon enough. (That last one was only for the children, the ones that ran around quietly and tried not to hear the gossip.)

"But the princess?"

"The Fire Lord needs an heir." Yua spoke quietly. "She's so young."

"Don't get soft," the Head Chef said sharply. "Even baby dragons can breathe fire."

Yua thought of the broken mirror and pursed her lips. "Only when they're scared."

"Dangerous words, girl." Yua didn't particularly care. What was said in the kitchens stayed in the kitchens.

"She's nine and the Fire Lord is ruthless."

" _ Yua _ ."

"She's  _ nine _ ." A lot of people stopped talking and set to work.

Nuan chopped the head off of a fish and glowered at her. Yua huffed and left for the laundry room.

\---

"Were they laid to rest?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Zuzu and Mother. Did you lay them to rest?"

"Are those nightmares persisting, Princess Azula?"

Azula took a deep breath and pushed harder. "How did you kill them?"

"Azula! Watch your tongue." Why did he sound like Mother? Was she hiding somewhere? When had he gotten so good at lying to her? "Now eat."

Azula hesitated.

"Eat." Father sounded angry, which was exactly where she needed him. If he would just let one thing slip then she would… she would  _ know _ . She would be sure.

"Not until you let me see the bodies." It's the worst thing she could think to ask, fuelled by that morbid curiosity Mother was so fond of. The flames around her flared at Father's sharp inhale. What more could it take? The thought was fleeting, but she caught it and considered. It was worth a try. If it didn't work, he wouldn't notice. Azula exhaled slowly and the lamps dimmed again.

She heard it before she felt it, still didn't really feel it as her head turned with a loud crack of flesh against flesh. It was numbing, more than anything else. It probably shouldn't have been, but it was a relief.

Azula pushed herself up from her chair and didn't feel satisfied.

She just felt numb.

There were servants in the corners. They didn't look up from the floor.

\---

Azula copied the movements from the scroll, leaving her chi at rest while she did. Complete control.

Azula breathed in, out, felt her chi flowing through her body. In, out, flow.

In, out, flow.

Azula let go.

The air before her lit up in blue.

Azula felt numb.

\---

Azula slipped through the window silently.

Ozai stood from her bed, but didn't turn to face her.

"So, Princess Azula, why is it that you are not where you are supposed to be?"

The torches outside pulsed with Azula's breathing. She forced herself into seiza and prayed to the only god she knew.

"I was merely investigating the flaws in the palace's security, my Lord." Her shin was stinging from the burn pressed against the floor. It wasn't too bad, just a quick flame that had caught her unawares when Ozai had ambushed her during her training, but it still hurt.

"Were you." It wasn't a question, and she knew better than to answer as footsteps padded across the floor towards her. Her breathing stuttered ever so slightly, and the torches returned to their flickering. "Stand up." Azula did as she was told, wobbling slightly on her burned leg. "What was that?" Azula kept her gaze on the floor.

"My leg was injured during practice yesterday, my Lord." He knew that, but he expected an answer. Ozai hummed pensively.

"If it was injured yesterday," he pressed his fingers to Azula's chin and tilted her face upwards, "then why is it still a problem today?" His hand felt cold on her face. Azula held his gaze.

"It's not, my Lord."

Ozai's hand slid upwards to cup her cheek. Azula bit back her shudder and stayed perfectly still.

"You weren't checking any 'security', my dear." The words stretched out between them, hanging in the air like something dead, twisting away into nothing at the lack of Azula's reply. Ozai's face sharpened in the torchlight. "Sentimentality. You were out looking for your brother." Azula kept her face still, trying to get her mind to wander anywhere else but where it insisted on staying. "Pathetic." She knew that. She  _ knew _ . "You'll thank me, one day, for this."

It was the only warning she got.

\---

In the same palace, in another world entirely, a thirteen year old boy will beg and plead with his father for forgiveness, and scream when he does not receive it.

In this world, a ten year old girl waits for the blood to bubble up between her teeth before she starts laughing.

There is no fanfare.


	2. So I'm Abandoning This (like Ursa Abandoned Her Kids)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> extra scenes and the outline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. i don't care for this fanfiction anymore. it is lacking in my favourite mud-covered gremlin child (toph) and i have no motivation to finish it. instead, i'm offering it up as a prompt. if you want to write from the first chapter and build from there, please go ahead. if you want a bit more structure, this chapter is the outline (in not as much detail as my docs so as to be readable) with some bonus scenes that i wrote before i finished chapter one. enjoy!

Chapter Two: Socialising Is Easier In Theory

Or, Azula traces the avatar to Kyoshi Island and is immediately confronted with her own social ineptitude. Also she’s totally not gay for Suki. Definitely not.

\---

Aang was so completely not stalling to stay on Kyoshi longer. Besides, even if he was, there wasn't anything wrong with that. Kyoshi was neutral! And guarded by the Unagi, which, when he thought about it was probably why it had been able to stay neutral so long, because the Unagi was really super scary. (So Kyoshi being neutral had almost definitely nothing to do with the fact that the Unagi had been trying really hard to eat him even though its main diet was supposed to be fish.) (Probably.)

Kyoshi was neutral, and therefore safe, and therefore Katara was the one being unreasonable and Aang wasn't 'basking in glory' or whatever she'd said. Those girls were just being nice because the people of Kyoshi island were nice (and didn't feed people to giant sea-snakes, hopefully).

Fortunately, he was distracted from this particular line of not-thinking by the Kyoshi Warriors… dragging an unconscious body along the track to the village. Never mind. There was probably a completely reasonable non-violent explanation for this!

(…Aang really hoped that girl wasn't dead.)

"Hey, Suki!" Suki paused in her dragging. "Who's that?"

"Don't know."

"Oh. Right, so, uhhh… what are you gonna do with her?"

"Feed her to the unagi, hopefully. Mayor's decision, though."

Aang let out a nervous chuckle-giggle-voice-crack. "Hopefully?"

Suki jerked her head to the left and Aang realized that one of the Kyoshi warriors was slumped over the shoulders of two of her sisters, as unconscious as the body Suki was dragging along.

"Oh."

"Yeah, she did that with a sack over her head and her arms tied behind her back. If she lives, I'm recruiting her." Suki gave Aang a smile that was just a little too wide. He gulped.

\---

Azula opened her eyes to the prettiest girl she had ever seen in her life.

Wait. No.

Azula opened her eyes to an accomplished warrior who had earned her admiration and had a passable face. Which was completely unrelated to the accomplished warrior part and wasn't even worth mentioning, really, and probably just the makeup. So.

How did people talk, again?

"Hi?”

\---

“You’re going to fight me.” Azula was starting to notice that Suki didn’t ever make her orders sound like orders. It was always ‘you’re going to’ or ‘could you’ instead of ‘do this’. It worked wonders, though, because Azula hadn’t heard anyone say ‘no’ to her yet. Perks of leading such a small group, she supposed.

“Okay,” said Azula, because she didn’t have anything better to do, and because she didn’t want to learn why no one says no to Suki firsthand.

Suki was throwing punches the second she was up on her feet, and Azula very nearly lost the fight flat out, but she wasn’t about to let Suki win that easily. She stayed close to her, relying entirely on half-memories of her hand-to-hand classes from way back in school. Her own personal conviction not to waste any movement seemed to translate pretty well; Suki was definitely surprised the first few times that she turns dodges into attacks. Eventually, though, she gets used to it and adapts her own style to block more and more of Azula’s punches.

They fell into a simple cycle - dodge, block, counter - moving around the dojo steadily. It looks like it might be a stalemate, until Suki goes for a kick. She clearly expected Azula to dodge properly this time. Instead, she threw herself into the kick, leaving her arm to bruise in order to knock Suki off balance. The leader stumbled, forced backwards to keep from falling and Azula pressed forward, confident in her advantage.

She was wrong. Suki got far too close for comfort and something hooked around her ankle and suddenly she was falling and her hips were pinned down and Suki was on top of her and smiling in a way Azula had never seen anyone smile before.

“Gotcha.”

Breath control. She wasn’t going to die.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The sounds around her became muffled and echoing. Breath control. Azula took a few deep breaths and felt her inner flame burn hotter and stronger.

“Hey a-”

Azula’s eyes snapped back open and she smiled, halfway between court and doctor’s quarters.

“I’m fine.”

\---

"Is it even worth asking?"

Katara has absolutely no idea what exactly has got Azula thinking she's got an opportunity to be judgmental considering she just got thrown into the exact same cargo hold as her, by the exact same pirate (currently dubbed Burly Asshole). Except Azula hadn't stumbled even slightly or bumped into anything, because of course she hadn't. Katara huffed.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Azula ignored her in favour of pressing her ear - her good one, Katara realized as she took in the full extent of her scar in the dim light - to the door. After a few moments of careful listening, Azula turned. Katara snapped her eyes away, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm here to rescue you, idiot." Her hands were free, suddenly, and how had she even-

"Wait, what? Rescue me?"

"Shout it louder, why don't you?"

Katara scowled at her. Azula smirked right back, the corner of her mouth that still had lips quirking upwards, and Katara looked away again, slightly ashamed. She may not have had a mother, but Gran-Gran had raised her better than to judge someone based on their appearance. Especially based on giant burn scars that couldn't have possibly been their fault.

"We're going to have to wait until night, now." Azula interrupted her thoughts again.

"Why?"

"Because then we'll have less pirates to deal with." The 'idiot' was implied this time, which somehow made it even more insulting.

"Fine."

Sokka would have said 'fine' right back, but Azula just shrugged and settled herself against some crates. Katara, for a fleeting, surreal moment, wondered if she'd ever been in an argument before.

She was a princess, of course she hadn't.

(She had that burn, of course she had.)

Katara reminded herself not to stare and sat down, curled in on herself on top of another crate. Maybe she could try to get some sleep.

\---

At no point in my outline was suki/azula anything more than a crush and common ground for sokka and azula to bond over.

After that, Zhao shows up and sets fire to things, Azula reveals her true identity to save the island, and Suki kicks her out. She commandeers Zhao’s ship and sets off after a rapidly shrinking dot in the sky.

\---

Chapter Three: Crazy Old People Part One - Bumi of Omashu

Azula arrives in Omashu directly after Aang and his friends leave. She is arrested on suspicion of theft and taken to Bumi, who figures out who she is immediately. Azula is totally ready to go out fighting, but instead Bumi gives her a similar ultimatum to Aang. She wins their fight and takes Omashu for the Fire Nation. She remains on good terms with Bumi, who is allowed to stay in his castle while they wait around for his replacement.

Mai and her parents show up.

Azula puts on her best sharktopus teeth smile and makes a hasty exit.

\---

“Ty Lee misses you.” It sounds like an accusation, even to Mai, and internally she curses herself.

“You’re still in contact with her?”

“She writes to me sometimes. It makes life in court a little less boring.” Mai tries not to stare at the scar across Azula’s cheek. “She always wondered what happened to you.”

“How… touching.” Azula’s lips curl into a sneer. Mai can’t find it in her to be intimidated. Not while she’s still stuck thinking about how painful that burn must have been.

“I’ll tell her you said ‘hello’?”

Azula studies her face for a split second.

Mai doesn’t tell her how much she’s missed her too.

“May Agni’s light shine on you and your family, Lady Mai.” Her bows are as perfunctory as ever.

Mai returns the gesture. “And on our Lord Ozai, and may he guide your path, Princess Azula.” The words taste bitter and hollow on her tongue.

\---

Chapter Four: Crazy Old People Part Two - Uncle Iroh

Or, Azula is distracted from her mission by an Earth Kingdom troupe that are planning on crushing the hands of one of her subjects.

… Make that her long-lost Uncle.

She doesn’t feel bitter, not at all, he’s just a waste of time to save, really, and he’s obviously drunk and-

“He’s our Uncle, Lala,” says Zuzu’s ghost and Mother just stands there looking disapproving like she always did and Azula doesn’t want to put up with their yammering so she rescues him.

And maybe this could work, actually.

She just needs somewhere to stash him (and sober him up) for the next few weeks.

… Bumi does sort of owe her a favour.

Of course, once he’s sober he’s insisting they should go to the circus of all places and yes of course he’ll stay put and do as he’s told if she indulges him and what does she have to lose except three more hours of her life.

It’s Ty Lee’s circus because of course it is and Azula is starting to think that Ozai might have been lying about all the ‘born lucky’ stuff. So, she’s just gonna make a hasty exit before Ty Lee notices and-

Never mind.

\---

“Azula!” Ty Lee runs to catch up with her. “I got Mai’s letter, but I never thought you’d actually come and see us!” She doesn’t have to fake being happy anymore, but she does have to work to stop her smile from faltering at Azula’s face.

The scar makes her look an awful lot scarier than she remembers.

“You recognised me.”

Not immediately, she was swinging back towards the ground before she placed the look of shock, but of course she had.

“You don’t look that different.”

Azula looks skeptical, but it’s true. Ty Lee would recognise her careful, motionless posture anywhere. Her face has changed, but she hasn’t. Her aura is still that bright blue that Ty Lee always loved so much, albeit with a few darker spots here and there.

She steps closer.

Azula doesn’t move, doesn’t even breathe as Ty Lee presses her lips to the cheek that still looks young.

“Come see us perform sometime. You got terrible seats.”

Ty Lee is the one to walk away, grinning into her hands while Azula stares at the back of her head. She hears her snap at the old man she’s travelling with as she darts back into the performers’ tent.

\---

I hate a lot of that scene because it implies tyzula and i didn’t mean it to but i don’t wanna edit it so onto

Chapter Five: Pirates? Really?

In which Katara is kidnapped by pirates, Azula stages a rescue mission, and Aang and Sokka lose the braincell.

\---

"Is it even worth asking?"

Katara has absolutely no idea what exactly has got Azula thinking she's got an opportunity to be judgmental considering she just got thrown into the exact same cargo hold as her, by the exact same pirate (currently dubbed Burly Asshole). Except Azula hadn't stumbled even slightly or bumped into anything, because of course she hadn't. Katara huffed.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Azula ignored her in favour of pressing her ear - her good one, Katara realized as she took in the full extent of her scar in the dim light - to the door. After a few moments of careful listening, Azula turned. Katara snapped her eyes away, slightly embarrassed.

"I'm here to rescue you, idiot." Her hands were free, suddenly, and how had she even-

"Wait, what? Rescue me?"

"Shout it louder, why don't you?"

Katara scowled at her. Azula smirked right back, the corner of her mouth that still had lips quirking upwards, and Katara looked away again, slightly ashamed. She may not have had a mother, but Gran-Gran had raised her better than to judge someone based on their appearance. Especially based on giant burn scars that couldn't have possibly been their fault.

"We're going to have to wait until night, now." Azula interrupted her thoughts again.

"Why?"

"Because then we'll have less pirates to deal with." The 'idiot' was implied this time, which somehow made it even more insulting.

"Fine."

Sokka would have said 'fine' right back, but Azula just shrugged and settled herself against some crates. Katara, for a fleeting, surreal moment, wondered if she'd ever been in an argument before.

She was a princess, of course she hadn't.

(She had that burn, or course she had.)

Katara reminded herself not to stare and sat down, curled in on herself on top of another crate. Maybe she could try to get some sleep.

\---

Literally the whole chapter is just the two of them bonding in the pirates’ cargo hold. Then they bust out and get back to the gang. Sokka insults azula and she leaves without even trying to capture aang (to prove a point).

\---

Chapter Six: The Blue(ish) Spirit

Azula rescues Aang from Pohuai Stronghold. Aang insists on hearing her out. Her plan is as follows.

“You come with me to the Fire Nation in chains so we can pretend that I captured you. Then, I’ll kill my dad, and become Fire Lord. I’ll even end the war, so we’re even.

“Simple.”

Sokka is 100% in favour of this too-good-to-be-true plan, Aang has some issues, and Katara is Very Invested in murdering Ozai.

They basically draw their own conclusions about Azula’s childhood, seeing as her scar is a literal handprint. Sokka and Azula go on a life-changing field trip to recruit Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors as fake fire nation soldiers. It works and they carry out the plan, defeat the firelord, and end the war.

And live happily ever after.

Until Azula installs Iroh on the throne, fakes her own death, and vanishes with her brother’s ashes.

(Also, yes, Zuko is dead, and not coming back.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed! if you do decide to write from this, please tag me so i can read it. these scenes are much rougher than chapter one, but constructive criticism is still appreciated! i'd love to hear any tips on improving my writing :)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! come yell with me about avatar on my tumblr (@clock-workpunk) if you would like. also this is crossposted on ff.net under the same username. also criticism is very welcome! please tell me how i can improve if you can think of anything!


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